Battle of Hexham

The Battle of Hexham was fought on 15 May 1464 during the Wars of the Roses. The battle resulted in a decisive Yorkist victory and the deaths of the last Lancastrian leaders in England.

Background
After the Battle of Towton in 1461, the last embers of Lancastrian resistance in Northumberland were snuffed out by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. The Yorkist King Edward IV of England now had a strong position, and he decided to forgive some of his past Lancastrian enemies, including Henry Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. In 1463, wary that the Scots supported the exiled King Henry IV and his wife Queen Margaret of Anjou, Edward reached out to King James III of Scotland about signing a treaty. In 1464, the Scots sent their diplomats to York. To prevent the signing of a treaty, Lancastrian nobles - nudged by Queen Margaret - rebelled under the leadership of Somerset in Northumberland.

Battle
King Henry sent a force led by Warwick's brother, John Neville, Lord Montagu, north to Northumberland to crush the Lancastrian uprising. The 4,000-strong Yorkist army routed the Lancastrians, and Somerset and the other Lancastrian leaders were killed. The rebellion was ended for good, and the treaty with the Scots went through. The Lancastrians were nearly destroyed, forcing Queen Margaret and her son Edward, Prince of Wales to flee to the court of their relative, King Louis XI of France. In 1465, Henry VI was captured in Lancashire and brought to London, ushering in a short period of peace in England.

Aftermath
Richard of Warwick became more powerful during this time, assuming many offices and taking lands from the Lancastrians. He tried to assert influence over the young king and attempted to negotiate with King Louis XI in 1466, planning to have the King marry Louis' daughter. However, King Edward had already privately married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464, and the fact that she was from the lower nobility shocked the magnates; Edward also entered into a secret alliance with Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy, embarrassing Warwick. Warwick left the court in 1467 and started plotting against the King, and, in 1469, his captain Robin of Redesdale started a rebellion in the north. Edward moved north to Nottingham in July 1469 to confront Robin, and Warwick took advantage of the King's absence to move into London a few days later and declare for the rebels, alongside the King's brother George, Duke of Clarence. The rebels went on to destroy the royal army at the Battle of Edgecote Moor.